KAIST

A research team led by Prof. Jae-Woo Park of the School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, KAIST, developed a transparent antenna for the next-generation automobiles, university authorities said on Monday (Aug. 17).

The development was made possible through joint researches with the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group; Winncom, a car antenna manufacturer; and a group of researchers led by Han-Ki Kim of the Department of Display Materials Engineering at Kyung Hee University in Seoul.

The transparent antennas were developed in two kinds -- one for the HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access), a new protocol for mobile telephone data transmission, and the other for transmitting and receiving radio wave for emergency call.

Using the transparent electrically conductive film formation technology, the transparent antennas are to be mounted on the windshield of a vehicle.

"The development of transparent antenna represents a step forward for the advancement of the next-generation automotive electronic technology," said Seong-woo Kim, a senior researcher at the Hyundai-Kia Group.